Dawn Elm received her Ph.D. in strategic management and organization from the University of Minnesota in 1989. She has been a faculty member at the University of St. Thomas for 25 years, teaching and consulting in the areas of business ethics, strategy, leadership and corporate governance.

Prior to coming to the University of St. Thomas, Elm worked in product development with the Procter & Gamble Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, after receiving her B.S. in chemical engineering, summa cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

She is widely published in the field of business ethics and was the recipient of the University of St. Thomas Excellence in Business Ethics award in 2002. Her current work involves improving ethical decision making in business, the impact of social media on privacy valuation and the integration of aesthetics and business ethics. She currently serves as the executive director of the Society for Business Ethics, a global association.

Elm has experience in strategy consulting, ethical decision-making training, product and process development, and corporate governance. She has served as an independent director in the banking and construction industries on public, private and family business boards. She has also served on non-profit boards in the Twin Cities area.

Spring 2015
Courses

CRN: 21917
This course plays a critical role in the principle-based education of St. Thomas business students, especially in introducing the responsibilities of a business professional. Through analysis of case studies, readings and other experiential exercises, students will develop an understanding of professional business conduct and judgment grounded in moral principles. This course is a pre-requisite for all 400 level business courses. Prerequisite: eight credits from ACCT, BLAW, DSCI, FINC, MGMT, MKTG and junior standing

Schedule Details

CRN: 22824
Cultures of economic competitiveness and legal compliance are necessary but not sufficient for corporate responsibility. This course will examine the elements of ethical decision-making and ethical corporate cultures from the perspective of an organization's leadership. The premise of the course is that leaders are the architects of corporate culture- and that the moral agenda of leaders includes three practical imperatives: elucidating, institutionalizing and sustaining ethical values. The first two imperatives (elucidating and institutionalizing) involve placing moral considerations in a position of salience and authority alongside considerations of competitive strategy and compliance in the organization's mindset. The third imperative (sustaining) has to do with passing on the spirit of this effort in two directions: to future leaders of the organization and to the wider network of organizations and institutions that make up the social system as a whole. The case method will be used to introduce frameworks for making reasoned, thoughtful ethical decisions and to diagnose both positive and negative cultural leadership. Students will learn to recognize and resolve ethical issues and identify practical ways (1) to enhance sound ethical cultures and (2) to remediate weak ethical cultures. NOTE: Students are not permitted to take BETH 651 for credit if they have completed, or are taking concurrently, either BETH 601 ("Business Ethics") or BETH 701 ("Ethical Ldrshp & Corp Act") for credit. Prereq (or may take concurrently) LAWS 730/BETH 650

Schedule Details

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Summer 2015
Courses

Summer 2015
Courses

Crs - Sec

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Fall 2015
Courses

CRN: 42879
This course plays a critical role in the principle-based education of St. Thomas business students, especially in introducing the responsibilities of a business professional. Through analysis of case studies, readings and other experiential exercises, students will develop an understanding of professional business conduct and judgment grounded in moral principles. This course is a pre-requisite for all 400 level business courses.
Prerequisites: Junior standing and BLAW 301 or 302 or 303 or 304 and four additional credits from ACCT, OPMT, FINC, MGMT, or MKTG

Schedule Details

CRN: 42891
Registration is restricted to Full-time MBA students only. This course provides an overview of a wide array of business situations at the individual, organizational and societal levels with a focus on the ethical aspects of those situations and a review of the legal aspects of those situations. The course reviews and applies moral philosophy, important legal principles and human decision- making psychology for analyzing the ethical issues in business organizations. It also examines the challenge of ethical leadership and how an organization can be structured and developed to encourage employees at all levels to think and act ethically in a global environment. The lab involves introducing students to local organizations engaged in efforts to revitalize the business community. This is designed to help them enhance and appreciate the relationship between business and the larger society.

Schedule Details

CRN: 42892
Registration is restricted to Full-time MBA students only. This course provides an overview of a wide array of business situations at the individual, organizational and societal levels with a focus on the ethical aspects of those situations and a review of the legal aspects of those situations. The course reviews and applies moral philosophy, important legal principles and human decision- making psychology for analyzing the ethical issues in business organizations. It also examines the challenge of ethical leadership and how an organization can be structured and developed to encourage employees at all levels to think and act ethically in a global environment. The lab involves introducing students to local organizations engaged in efforts to revitalize the business community. This is designed to help them enhance and appreciate the relationship between business and the larger society.

Schedule Details

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Academic and Professional Positions

Professor, University of St. Thomas - Opus College of Business, St. Paul / Minneapolis (2001 - present)

Ethics and Business Law Department Chair, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul / Mpls (2011 - 2014)

Hartman, L., Elm, D. R., Radin, T., & Richmond-Pope, K. (2009). Translating corporate culture around the world: A cross-cultural analysis of whistleblowing as an example of how to say and do the right thing. Politeia: Corporate and Stakeholder Responsibility Theory and Practice, (XXV)(93),